Review: Dazzling the eyes of the beholders

The Blue Planet A film at the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, Bradford

There are few films that can leave an entire audience in stunned silence. Hollywood lost that ability decades ago so the big surprise is that this film is concerned with environmental issues.

Currently showing on the huge IMAX screen in Bradford's National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, much of the footage of The Blue Planet is shot from the American Space Shuttle. The screen is five storeys high and the film stock ten times normal size. The clarity is electrifying. The audience becomes absorbed in the film.

The opening shots are of a shuttle blasting off. The thunderous engines pound the auditorium. As the craft moves across the screen the sound follows it, adding to the illusion of being there.

It is a god-like feeling to look down on the Earth from the cargo ...

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